The film tells the story of Eric Lomax, a British soldier who was captured by the Japanese in WWII and forced to work on the Burmese railway. Encouraged by his wife Patti to come to terms with his past in the years following the war, Lomax eventually returned to Japan to meet his Nagase Takeshi, the man he saw as his tormentor throughout the period. The journey and meeting formed the basis of Lomax’s book, on which the film is based.

Firth is set to play Lomax, with Kidman portraying his wife Patti, who played a large part in setting up the meeting with Nagase (played by Sunshine and The Last Samurai’s Hiroyuki Sanada). Irvine, last seen in Steven Spielberg’s War Horse, will play the younger version of Lomax, while Skarsgard is set to take on the role of Lomax’ wartime colleague. The film is to be directed by Burning Man’s Jonathan Teplitzky.

Filming will take place in various locations around the east coast, before moving on to Thailand and Australia for the end of the shoot. ‘We’ll be using lots of different locations actually,’ said the film’s producer and co-screenwriter Andy Paterson. ‘We’ll be in Edinburgh, we’ll be using some trains, I think it’s well documented now that we’ll be using a house in North Berwick. We’ll be shooting in Berwick itself... we’ll be dotted about the place.’

Kidman added, ‘It’s one of the great things about being an actor that you get to live in a city for a certain amount of time so you really get to know it. You don’t feel like you’re just visiting, so that’s what I look forward to doing. I heard there’s some good restaurants and stuff, so I’ll be out and about.’

The Railway Man by Eric Lomax is available now; the film is set for release sometime in 2013.

Starring Firth as a veteran of the 'Death Railway' – the line from Bangkok in Thailand to Rangoon in Burma constructed by Allied prisoners of war during World War II. In this adaptation of a true story, he sets out many years later to find those responsible for his torture.